CONSERVATION CONTEXT
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat species found in the Americas but like many large carnivores, the species is under threat. Jaguars now occupy only around half of their historic range, with fewer than 200,000 individuals estimated to remain in the wild. The Amazon, Pantanal and Mayan Forest are understood to harbour the largest remaining jaguar populations. Beyond these areas, populations are small and increasingly isolated, further jeopardising their survival.
The main threats to jaguars are habitat destruction and fragmentation, loss of wild prey, conflict with people and hunting for the wildlife trade. As apex predators, jaguars play a key role in their forest ecosystems through regulating populations of their prey, maintaining a healthy balance of animal and plant species.
WILDCRU APPROACH
WildCRU is helping fill knowledge gaps about jaguars across their range, providing important insight to inform conservation efforts. Our research is evaluating the impact of land-use changes on jaguar population size, habitat extent, connectivity and genetic diversity. We are also studying conflict between jaguars and local communities and developing robust approaches to reducing this conflict. In Argentina, our Jaguars in the Fringe project is supporting livestock husbandry adjustments to reduce jaguar predation. Coupled with community education activities, this work is fostering long-term coexistence between people and carnivores.
JAGUAR RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
A dataset from 170 GPS-collared jaguars is informing conservation planning.
The first ever database on differences in male and female jaguar habitat use across the entire species’ range has been compiled.
A range-wide assessment of core population areas and corridors is in progress.
These WildCRU projects currently involve research on jaguars:
Key WildCRU publications relating to jaguars:
Jaguar density in the Argentine Yungas: overcoming camera trap failure
Anthropogenic factors do not affect male or female jaguar habitat use in an Amazonian Sustainable Reserve
People and jaguars: New insights into the role of social factors in an old conflict
Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal
Jaguar density in the Argentine Yungas: overcoming camera trap failure
The Yungas ecoregion supports an important jaguar population, of particular conservation relevance due to its location in the extreme SW of the species distribution, with potential for range extension and population recovery. Detailed population estimates are lacking. To evaluate jaguar density in the Argentine Yungas we conducted a camera trap survey in Baritú National Park and surrounding private lands. We deployed 32 sampling stations with a pair of camera traps each, obtaining a sampling effort of 2,080 trap/nights. Camera malfunction translated in several individual jaguars’ photo-captured only from one side, thus preventing unequivocal identification to apply traditional spatially explicit capture-recapture models. We used 2-flank SPIM, a partial identity spatially explicit capture-recapture model, we estimated a density of 0.75 jaguars per 100 km2, with a probability of detecting one side and both sides of 0.01 and 0.02 respectively. Our density estimates are low, but within the range of other studies, especially those on the fringes of the species distribution and support the idea of Yungas offering a stronghold for Argentina’s jaguars. This study offers a baseline for a monitoring program, much needed in a priority jaguar population.
Anthropogenic factors do not affect male or female jaguar habitat use in an Amazonian Sustainable Reserve
Conservation actions should account for species natural history and behavior related to differences between sexes. However, most studies have not taken into consideration non-independence of observations from the same individual. We used data from camera-trap surveys undertaken over six consecutive years to investigate habitat use by jaguar (Panthera onca) in varzea seasonally flooded forest. We used hierarchical modeling to assess sex differences in occurrence probability related to environmental factors, while accounting for individual and spatial autocorrelation. Specifically, we tested whether male and female jaguars responded differently to habitat type and anthropogenic influence. Our results do not support previous conclusions related to differences between sexes and indicate that, in the studied area, jaguars are habitat generalists, exploring all environments with similar probability during the low-water season. Human settlements also apparently have little effect on habitat use by jaguars in this area. The lack of avoidance of settlements might be due to the low levels of anthropogenic pressure in the area, which adds support to the effectiveness of sustainable-development reserves. The difference between our results and previous studies may be due to the fact that we took into account individual differences, or may be related to the unique environmental characteristics of the varzea of Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in Central Amazonia.
Human-jaguars coexistence: social factors influencing jaguar conservation in Southern Bolivia
Jaguar (Panthera onca) populations are declining in Bolivia, due to anthropogenic
threats. Understanding the attitudes and perceptions of local people toward threatened
species, and the factors that can influence them, is crucial for their protection. This study
evaluated how the level of knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards jaguars among
local people in southern Bolivia varied depending on their level of education, age, and
occupation. We interviewed 139 people who live in and around two protected areas.
Positive perceptions and attitudes towards jaguars were associated with higher levels of
formal education and with people’s occupation. Negative attitudes and perceptions
towards the species were determined by fear; people saw jaguars as a potential threat to
their lives. Socioeconomic factors that affect the level of tolerance towards jaguars are
not related only to economic losses. Our results can inform the design, orientation,
execution, and evaluation of future species conservation projects in Bolivia.
People and jaguars: New insights into the role of social factors in an old conflict
Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal
The increasing frequency and severity of human-caused fires likely have deleterious effects on species distribution and persistence. In 2020, megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal burned 43% of the biome’s unburned area and resulted in mass mortality of wildlife. We investigated changes in habitat use or occupancy for an assemblage of eight mammal species in Serra do Amolar, Brazil, following the 2020 fires using a pre- and post-fire camera trap dataset. Additionally, we estimated the density for two naturally marked species, jaguars Panthera onca and ocelots Leopardus pardalis. Of the eight species, six (ocelots, collared peccaries Dicotyles tajacu, giant armadillos Priodontes maximus, Azara’s agouti Dasyprocta azarae, red brocket deer Mazama americana, and tapirs Tapirus terrestris) had declining occupancy following fires, and one had stable habitat use (pumas Puma concolor). Giant armadillo experienced the most precipitous decline in occupancy from 0.431 ± 0.171 to 0.077 ± 0.044 after the fires. Jaguars were the only species with increasing habitat use, from 0.393 ± 0.127 to 0.753 ± 0.085. Jaguar density remained stable across years (2.8 ± 1.3, 3.7 ± 1.3, 2.6 ± 0.85/100 km2), while ocelot density increased from 13.9 ± 3.2 to 16.1 ± 5.2/100 km2. However, the low number of both jaguars and ocelots recaptured after the fire period suggests that immigration may have sustained the population. Our results indicate that the megafires will have significant consequences for species occupancy and fitness in fire-affected areas. The scale of megafires may inhibit successful recolonization, thus wider studies are needed to investigate population trends.